Eyelash Growth with Glaucoma

According to National Glaucoma Research, approximately 2.2 million people age 40 and older have glaucoma, and as many as 120,000 of these individuals are blind. One treatment option for glaucoma is prescription medication, which has been found to have the positive side effect of darkening and increasing the growth of eyelashes.

Facts

• Glaucoma is a cluster of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve, a collection of nerve fibers that carries information from the eye to the brain.

Treatment

• Vision lost to glaucoma cannot be recovered; however, medication and surgery can help slow progression of the disease. Treatment involves reducing the pressure inside the eyes to reduce damage to the optic nerve. Treatments include prescription eye drops or surgery, depending on the seriousness of the disease. Lumigan (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03% is commonly prescribed to reduce high eye pressure, also known as "intraocular pressure."

Side Effects

• Patients treated with Lumigan experienced a side effect of thicker, darker and fuller eyelashes. Some patients with hazel eyes experienced an increase in iris pigmentation, which caused permanent darkening of the eye color and darkening of the eyelid skin. Other side effects include dryness, inflammation and itchiness of the eyes.

New Discovery

• With the discovery that Lumigan stimulates eyelash growth, Allergen, Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Irvine, California, began studying the effectiveness of bimatoprost in the treatment of hypotrichosis, lack of hair of the eyelashes.

Latisse

• In 2008, the FDA approved Allergen's new prescription drug Latisse for the treatment of hypotrichosis. According to Allergen, Latisse enhances "eyelash prominence as measured by increases in length, thickness and darkness of eyelashes."